HE'S one of the most celebrated composers of the 20th Century and yet he's mainly known for just one work.

That's Leonard Bernstein, the man behind the smash hit musical West Side Story, but can you name any other of his pieces?

Well that's all about to change thanks to Platform Musicals and Plays and director Caroline Fritz.

She says: "Platform have done several what you might call compilation composer concerts including Grieg, Ivor Novello and Gilbert and Sullivan so when I was asked what I wanted to do I remembered a cassette I bought some 30 years ago which had a selection of Leonard Bernstein works.

"It got me to thinking that most people only know him for West Side Story but in actual fact he's written so many different and varied pieces."

They include perhaps the more well known like Somewhere from West Side Story and New York, New York from On The Town but there's also his Catholic Mass commissioned by Jackie Kennedy, after the assassination of her her husband, John F Kennedy.

"Having read about his life," Caroline adds, "I think what was frustrating for him was being around in an era of specialisation. Where you were pigeonholed into just one thing but he was a real renaissance man. He was classically trained and first came to prominence as a conductor but he was also an educator too.

"As well as some of the psalms from his Mass, we also have some more obscure numbers that he did like a piece from Peter Pan that he scored and a very timely song called Take Care of This House from 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, all about the White House."

With a cast ranging in age from teens to the 70s, Bernstein on Broadway is at the Headgate Theatre, Chapel Street North, Colchester, from Wednesday to Saturday, April 26 to 29 at 7.45pm with a Saturday matinee at 2.30pm.

Tickets are £12, available on-line at www.headgatetheatre.co.uk or by calling 01206 366000.